There was no adjustments to a front-row that was being worked over. No attention to a malfunctioning lineout that delivered scraps of possession. Just a firm message at half-time to play the Merewether way.
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That is exactly what the Greens did as they climbed off the canvas to edge Hamilton 21-19 at Passmore Oval on Saturday and remain the only unbeaten side after four rounds.
Merewether were down 12-0 at half-time and 19-15 with 12 minutes remaining.
It was the type of game Hamilton, the five time defending champions, rarely lose, especially at home.
But the Greens found a way to get the job done.
They gained a degree of parity at the scrum, shifted the ball quickly to the edges and put their quick men into space - the Merewether way.
"None of that was a surprise to me," coach Jamie Lind said. "These guys have a massive amount of intestinal fortitude and they don't want to lose.
"In the first half we put ourselves under pressure. We started playing Hamilton footy. We weren't wide in attack and were pretty flat.
"Once everyone calmed down and we got a little bit of ball, we showed how we can split teams in an outside channel."
Winger Chicky Sykiotis raced 50 metres to open Merewether's account after Lucas Corrigan stole possession in contact.
Hamilton had lost Angus Brown to the sinbin for repeated team infringements five minutes early.
Before the centre returned, Merewether stuck again. Fullback Sam Rouse finished off a long-range effort he engineered to put the visitors in front 14-12.
Hamilton responded with a try to No.8 Tom Coupe from the back of the scrum to regain the lead 19-14.
Tom Newman was the unlikely match-winner for the Greens. The tighthead prop spent 10 minutes in the sinbin in the first half after giving away three scrum penalties for collapsing.
But somehow he found the energy and power to charge like a rhino for 15 metres through the heart of the Hawks defence .
Asked if he had considered making changes to front-row at half-time or instructed them to make adjustments, Lind said: "No. It was just a character thing. The easy option would have been to replace them. I'm stoked for Tom. He has been a third grade prop in other years. Same with the guy on the other side. It is not like we have given them a super human tablet and made it happen. Now they believe a bit more in themselves. They are are digging in for their mates. But we need to be better at those things (set piece).
"Hamilton have some big forwards and we started to shut them down a bit better. Billy Clay in the centres was a handful. Once you work those things out, shut them down, the other bits don't quite work as well."
Hamilton coach Marty Berry lamented a couple of opportunities the Hawks "failed to nail" in the first half.
"We had so much pressure on them but we just couldn't finish them off," he said. "We had a try under the posts which was ruled held up. I thought we scored that. If you are up 19-0, things change. We had lots of opportunities which we didn't nail.
"There were lots of positives. A lot of the stuff we were doing was good rugby. They are a good team. To go down 21-19 I can't be too disappointed."
Elsewhere Saturday, Wanderers lock Marcus Christensen inspired the Two Blues to a 39-19 victory over his previous club Maitland at No.2 Sportsground.
Singleton came from 13-10 behind at half-time to edge out University 29-18 at Rugby Park for their first win and Nelson Bay demolished Lake Macquarie 95-0 at Walters Park.
James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
